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Liverpool assistant Pascoe hails ‘brilliant’ Coutinho

Brendan Rodgers’ No.2 insists the Brazilian’s seamless start to life on Merseyside has not surprised the Reds’ coaching staff and is happy with how he has settled in

Liverpool assistant manager Colin Pascoe has hailed Philippe Coutinho and his impact on the Reds’ first team.

The Brazilian signed from Inter in January and has already managed a goal and two assists in his three appearances for the Merseyside outfit.

“Philippe has been brilliant,” Pascoe told the club’s official website.

“He is a quiet, young lad and it must be hard for him because he doesn’t speak much English – and I can’t help him as he doesn’t speak Welsh either! But with Luis [Suarez], Lucas, Sebastian [Coates] and Fabio [Borini] you have Spanish and Italian, and he can speak that.

“I’m not surprised by his impact so far as we knew how good a player he was. He’s got a good eye, he’s got a good awareness of where his team-mates are and that’s what he’s picked up very quickly.

“He got two assists at Wigan. The one he crossed for Stewart Downing’s goal with two wingers combining was fantastic, and his goal against Swansea was superb.

“He wants to get into the box and he wants to score goals. If the opportunity is there for a pass he will make the right decision whether to shoot or pass and that’s the sign of a good player.”

Pascoe is also happy that Brendan Rodgers’ style of football seems to be paying off, with Liverpool having scored 12 goals in their last three games.

He explained: “It’s always hard when you implement a new style and it takes time to get used to it, but with the way the lads have been playing it has been fantastic.

“Daniel Sturridge and Coutinho came in January and they have gelled well with the rest of the lads.

“The lads have been fantastic and every day they are working hard on the style, the tactical and technical style of their game, and good positioning, pressing and passing the ball better.

“You look at the 5-0 win against Swansea, 4-0 versus Wigan – both high scoring games and we could have even scored more with the way we played. We also played Arsenal and Manchester City and dominated them and were unlucky not to beat them.”